An officer saw that the headlights on Van Sant's vehicle weren't on, Schmautz said. Van Sant, who lives in Portland, had bloodshot eyes and slurred speech, smelled of alcohol and failed the sobriety tests, Schmautz said.

Calls to his film company seeking comment were not immediately returned.

Van Sant also directed "My Own Private Idaho" and "Good Will Hunting." Several of his films have been set in Oregon, including "Elephant," about a high-school shooting, which won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 2003. He has been filming "Paranoid Park" in and around the city.